Romania’s ‘dysfunction makes its cinema great’

BUCHAREST:- Post-communist Romania may suffer from corruption, incompetence and broken dreams - but it has at least given its booming cinema plenty to get its teeth into. This year’s Cannes film festival has no fewer than three films in the official selection - a major feat for even big movie-producing countries, never mind the EU’s second poorest member. Two are in the running for the top prize, the Palme d’Or, including director Cristi Puiu’s highly-rated “Sieranevada”, which premieres Thursday. Like most of the new wave of Romanian films, it takes an uncompromising look at the country’s woes.–AFP

“There is an economic and social situation that is making Romanian cinema blossom,” Antoine Bagnaninchi, head of the Independenta Film distribution company, told AFP.